The field of the invention relates generally to molds, and more specifically, to the manipulation of mold drawers with respect to molding mechanisms including apparatus and methods for automating handling of mold drawers.
Molding mechanisms are utilized to produce molded parts which are not readily formed by injection molding processes. Material to be molded is first placed within a cavity in a mold drawer. The mold drawer is then placed within the mold mechanism (i.e., an electro-mechanical system capable of applying heat and pressure to the mold drawers) and the mechanism is closed and pressure and heat are applied to the mold drawer, thus forcing the material to fill the entire cavity within the mold drawer. Heat and pressure are maintained within the mold drawer until the material has sufficiently cured and filled the cavity. The mold drawers are then removed from the mold and the cured material is removed therefrom. In many molding mechanisms, the mold drawers must be manually placed within the mold mechanism and removed therefrom by an operator of the mechanism.
The production of large, molded parts in molding operations requires the use of correspondingly large mold drawers. Consequently, the mold drawers are heavy (i.e., weighing as much as 4,000 lbs.) and cumbersome, thus rendering their manipulation by operators difficult. While the mold drawers may be movable on tracks or other wheeled mechanisms, the operator is still required to impart the force necessary to move the mold drawers along the tracks.
The ergonomics of pushing and pulling large, heavy mold drawers by the operators subject the operators to repetitive-type injuries because of the force and awkwardness of the motions required to manipulate the mold drawers. Further, once the mold drawers begin moving on the tracks, the operator lacks the strength to sufficiently control or stop their movement. The uncontrolled movement of the mold drawers on the tracked or wheeled mechanisms raises safety concerns as well. Operators often pull the mold drawers quickly towards themselves and then release the mold drawers, thus permitting the mold drawers to freewheel into stops positioned at a terminal end of the tracks. Over time, the stops may fail and result in a catastrophic failure with the mold drawers coming off of their tracks and falling, often resulting in damage to equipment and injury of persons nearby.
Accordingly, a system is needed that requires only minimal modification of existing molding mechanisms, while significantly reducing or eliminating the amount of operator intervention required to place mold drawers within the molding machine and remove them from same.